Friend Festivities

May 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Following the triple birthday, double wedding in April, Pam celebrated her birthday on Cinco de Mayo a few weeks ago.

As is easiest, all the friends met up at our favorite Tex-Mex restaurants for dinner, honeymoon recaps, and a few good margaritas.

As usual, hilarity ensued, especially once the happy birthday sombrero came out.  I absolutely adore all of our friends & I’m so glad we are getting to spend more time with them this year.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Amazing morning run in Philly & now a day at Bloggy Boot camp with Stephanie!

Filed Under: friends, Married Life

The Tasting Room City Centre

May 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Two weekends ago, we decided to celebrate our first weekend at home in almost a month by hitting up The Tasting Room- City Centre Friday evening for drinks & dinner.

This whole area has been so transformed and I’m just amazed.  I love the architecture, the landscaping, the layout of this whole shopping area.  The Tasting Room has a prime spot on the end of the the shopping center, so the inviting and cozy porch warps about on three sides.

The large patio is lovely & mostly shaded, which is a necessity in the Houston summers.  They had live music on the night we were there & some much more cozy/intimate areas around back that would be perfect for a party.

Inside they had some fancy wine system they were trying to hustle, but we just opted for 2 bottles of white instead.  The inside is large & very spacious, like the other Tasting Room locations.

The large bar in was the centerpiece & many people were gathered around the kitchen-facing bar or near the windows watching the shoppers pass by outside.

They have quite a lovely menu with some delicious items on it, but we opted for a meat & cheese plate to start and then decided to order 2 appetizers to split for our dinner, which were all delicious!

After our meal, we walked around the City Centre area, which is becoming quite popular these days.  They have lots of events, specials, music, and often shut down the main street.   I’m happy to have a snazzy new place less than 15 minute from our house, filled with fabulous restaurants, tons of outside seating & great views into the park area.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY:  Headed to Philly today to see my BFF and attend Bloggy Boot Camp with The SITS girls tomorrow.

Filed Under: houston, review, wine

Arriving in Bariloche

May 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

After 3 nights at the Sheraton Mendoza with 2 days of tours (Andes & wineries), we hopped a plane a little south further into the Andes as we landed in Bariloche.  It was much cooler & very windy when we arrived, but otherwise things looked lovely, although a bit cloudy when we arrived.

 I was giddy to finally be into the  mountains & ready to explore those beautiful peaks and spires.  Although things appeared a little cloudy, we weren’t too worried as the weather forecast was lovely for the next few days.

 After checking into our hotel, we headed downtown for some lunch and exploring.  Bariloche instanly reminded me of a campy ski town back in the states- perhaps Steamboat or Veil.  So many little shops and stores, tons of young hippy types looking for something to do until ski season returned, and a half dozen chocolate shops that beckoned me at every corner.

 We popped into the cozy & funky Friends restaurant where I snagged a delicious salad, a few bites of pizza, and of course another bottle of wine.

 The next morning, I woke up early & went for a fantastic run- I loved the hills, the breathtaking views of the lake at every turn, and of course the nice cool weather.  So energized and inspired, I did a mini-session of yoga and stretching when I arrived home & hubby snapped these fun photos of me from our porch. Great view, eh?

I have such mixed feeling about Bariloche- I absolutely adored the town and almost every minute here.  It reminded me so much of Lake Tahoe or Queenstown, New Zealand.  This was the view from our room every morning, except for the day we were set to depart and we were greeted with a ominous “fog” of volcanic ash that would wreak havoc on the final week of our vacation.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Margaritas and fajitas with the girlfriends tonight.

Filed Under: Travels ->

Bodega Benegas Mendoza

May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Our 4th and final winery on our 2nd day of vacation was Bodega Benegas, a very cool old factory building with a lovely vineyard and winery.  The building was remodeled as a fantastic dining room and personal artifact collection.

In addition to the old antique farming & winery equipment, there was an impressive collection of hand sewn panchos, and then the amazing dining room table across from the largest fireplace I’ve ever seen.

We went down into the cellar to check out their wine, and I was blown away by all the stockpiled bottles of wine aging gracefully.

Finally, we  headed into the tasting room for our final presentation of wines for the day.  To day I was wine-ed out was an understatement, but I was still impressed with the beautiful artwork on the labels and some delicious wine.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Getting to do a little something fun & exciting today for my job that I’ve never done before.

Filed Under: Travels ->, wine

Club Tapiz Bodega

May 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

*FINALLY* getting back to blogging about my my troubled trip to Argentina & Chile back in February.  I’m still technically on day 2, our wine tour, and have got hundreds of more photos & stories to share.  Our next winery was at Club Tapiz, where we started out by entering an exquisite old barn that had been remodeled to resemble a party room.

Mirrors, mosaics made of tiny dots and jewels, cellars of wine, funky chandeliers, swanky couches all made for the perfect party environment.

Since many of the vineyards also grew olives, olive oil was a popular product & we did an olive oil tasting at Club Tapiz before lunch.  I loved the old machinery, which was still in use for pressing the olives &  tasting olive oil is quite an interesting experience- hubby wasn’t too impressed with the ordeal.

Lunch was one fabulous course followed by another.  We were seated at large table, met fascinating new people, indulged on more wine, sawed away at one of the most impressive slabs of meat I’ve ever seen, and then I attacked my dessert so ferociously that I accidentally cracked the glass.

All in all, this was a beautiful property. I think they had a small B&B attached to the vineyard & restaurant.  The view from upstairs at the ramshackle wooden building was beautiful!

Like before, the day was still a bit cloudy & I imagined we’d see towering Andes mountains from this view on a clear day, but it was still quite stunning.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: It’s a 5 flight week- 1 work trip, 1 working fun trip, and then off to Philly to see my BFF!

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Filed Under: Travels ->, wine
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